New Owner for Eaton's Sugarhouse

New Owner for Eaton's Sugarhouse

Dori Martinez and Frank Candelier of Eaton's Sugarhouse in Royalton. (Herald photo / Robert Eddy)

The name on the sign reads Eaton's Sugarhouse, which is just fine with Frank Candelier, who officially took over the well-known Royalton restaurant from its original owner, Cliff Eaton, this past April.

In fact, in addition to its name, Candelier plans on retaining much of the charm and quaint Vermont atmosphere of the Royalton eatery as well as its familiar breakfast menu.

"The menu," he declared, "is sacred. The pancakes will stay the same."

Candelier has begun adding some specials though, which are quickly growing in popularity, including beer-battered fish, lemon-pepper broiled haddock and cranberry-orange glazed stuffed turkey.

He also has plans to expand certain aspects of the business including the antique and specialty food sections. He hopes to introduce aromatherapy items and soaps to the gift shop as well as seasonal offerings such as garden whirligigs and Christmas ornaments.

The cashier's counter will resemble an old-fashioned candy store, complete with pickled eggs and burnt peanuts. Installing brand-new bathrooms, Candelier added, has been "number one" on his agenda.

Loyal to Tradition

Yet, for all his renovations to the building, Candelier is the first to give a nod to its past. "I know what Cliff wanted for the place and I plan to finish it," he explained.

He and Eaton "go so far back that we are practically family," according to Candelier, who is proud to note that one of his customers even mistook him for Eaton's son. In fact, the two men have been friends for 26 years, but it was not until Candelier sold his specialty food business last summer and began selling antiques out of a corner of the Sugarhouse that he became involved in Eaton's business.

In January, Eaton entrusted the restaurant to Candelier, just before leaving town in his Winnebago. Although selling his own Vermont Country Classic Pancake mixes for 11 years gave Candelier some knowledge of the industry, it was really the mutual trust between the two men that led Eaton to make this decision and ultimately to sell the establishment to the younger man this spring.

For Candelier, who had dreamt of owning the restaurant and had even considered purchasing it 10 years earlier, the result could not have been better.

"This is like Disneyland to me," he said, " I can't wait to get here in the morning."

Candelier even considers running the Sugarhouse a "spiritual experience." He explains that "people come here for a reason," whether it be only to grab a decent meal or a bit of conversation, and consequently he feels it is his job to make them feel special. As a result, he endeavors to remember where his regular customers like to sit and exactly what they like to eat, and to spend some time talking to them.

"I want to do this for as long as I'm able," he said, referring to the extra effort he makes. "I feel it's important."

He also believes that his attitude influences his staff of 15 part-time and full-time employees. On a busy day, Candelier noted, he may have as many as five cooks in the kitchen. "We're one big family," he said. "We have even had customers comment on our friendliness."

The Eaton Story

Eaton, too, commends Candelier on his zeal for what is essentially "a seven-day a week job. Frank has the same enthusiasm I had," he commented.

Eaton comes from a long line of sugarers, including his grandfather Amos Eaton and his parents Wendell and Norma, who were well known throughout the region for the Vermont cheese and maple products they sold each year at the Eastern States Exposition.

Eaton purchased the land on which the restaurant now stands in the late 1950s. The property also included a late 1800s cider mill, which he expanded a few years later, into the present restaurant and gift shop with the help of partners Rudolph and Florence Danforth.

At one time, the business functioned as a working sugarhouse with 20,000 taps, operating nine months out of the year.

In the mid-1970s, Danforth's declining health led Eaton to assume full control of the business. His parents helped out for a while, attracting visitors who remembered them from Eastern States.

During the 1980s, Eaton left the business, which subsequently went through a couple of owners before he repurchased it from the bank in 1995. Today, Eaton's Sugarhouse draws customers throughout the area and even attracts regulars from as far away as Boston and northern Massachusetts, who consider the restaurant a travel destination.

By Kim Gifford